INSTANT ANALYSIS: Supreme Court Delays Sale of Chrysler

Andrew M. Grossman / June 08, 2009

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Supreme Court has taken the extremely rare step of issuing a stay on the sale of Chrysler to Fiat, after three Indiana state pension and construction funds petitioned for the delay pending an appeal of a lower court decision. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said that the sale is “stayed pending further order.” The Obama administration had urged the court to reject the request.

This is a reasonable delay to protect fundamental rights.

• Time for consideration: Though the Court’s action to temporarily delay the sale of Chrysler to a government-funded shell corporation does not address the merits of the case, it does give the judicial process something it has not had up to this point: time to consider the case. At every step of the way until now, the courts have hastily passed on this case involving fundamental rights to give the government license to push through a sale that strains the seams of constitutionality and legality. That rush, in the face of serious legal issues, is unseemly, contrary to due process, and unbefitting “a nation of laws, not men.” This temporary delay is the first step toward any court actually considering the merits of the stay and the case. (more…)